Change the following sentence into an Exclamatory sentence:
It is strange that our neighbour’s cat has started sleeping in our shoe rack.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → How strange that our neighbour’s cat has started sleeping in our shoe rack!
Assertive to exclamatory (“It is strange that” to “How strange that”):
- An assertive sentence states a fact or an opinion and ends with a full stop.
- An exclamatory sentence shows a strong feeling, such as joy, surprise or sorrow, and ends with an exclamation mark.
| Change | Assertive | Exclamatory | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening words | It is strange that | How strange that | “It is strange that” shows surprise. In the exclamatory sentence it becomes “How strange that”. |
| End mark | (.) | (!) | An exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation mark. |
| Full sentence | It is strange that our neighbour’s cat has started sleeping in our shoe rack. | How strange that our neighbour’s cat has started sleeping in our shoe rack! |
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: What strange that our neighbour’s cat has started sleeping in our shoe rack! — Incorrect. “What” needs a noun after it. Before an adjective alone, such as “strange”, we use “How”.
Option 2: How strange that our neighbour’s cat had started sleeping in our shoe rack! — Incorrect. It changes “has started” to “had started”. The present perfect must stay.
Option 4: Alas! Our neighbour’s cat has started sleeping in our shoe rack. — Incorrect. “Alas” shows sorrow. The given sentence shows surprise, not sorrow.